12 The Economist March 12th 2022
Letters
CambodiaandMyanmar
Youtrivialisedserious
attemptsbythegovernmentof
Cambodiatoimprovematters
inMyanmar(“Thechastened
cowboy”,February26th).Hun
Sen,theCambodianprime
minister,visitedNaypyidaw,
Myanmar’scapital,inJanuary.
Heconveyedtheimportant
messagetomilitaryleaders
thatMyanmarwouldbewel
comedbackintoaseanonlyif
it madesubstantialprogress
implementingthefivepoint
consensus,namely:theimme
diatecessationofviolence;
holdingconstructivedialogue
withallstakeholders;letting
aseanhelpmediatethat
dialogue;allowingsafeaccess
forhumanitarianassistance;
andenablingregularvisitsby
asean’s specialenvoy.
Thesediplomaticeffortsdo
notlendlegitimacyto
Myanmar’smilitarygovern
ment.Rather,theyarepartof
anongoingprocessthat,inthe
shortterm,pushesforthe
deliveryofhumanitarian
assistanceandthat,onehopes,
willultimatelyleadtopeace
anda returntoanaseanof
tenmembers.
Contrarytoyourarticle,
Cambodia,anindependent,
sovereigncountrywitha long,
proudhistory,isnostrangerto
internationaldiplomacy.Our
unpeacekeepersparticipatein
programmesaroundtheworld
toclearlandmines,administer
medicalassistanceand
providecivilengineering
expertise.Wetakeseriously
ourchairmanshipofasean,
pursuingpeace,stabilityand
prosperityintheregion.
kaokimhourn
Ministerdelegateattachedto
theprimeministerinchargeof
foreignaffairsandasean
PhnomPenh
Subsidies to fossil fuels
I read your leader about com
panies’ environmental, social
and governance (esg) rules,
and in particular oilrelated
investments (“A dirty secret”,
February 12th). The shift from
publicly listed investment to
the private sphere in order to
avoid the scrutiny of the mar
kets should be called out, and
thank you for doing so. But the
biggest issue in this debate
strikes me as being the one
relating to public investments.
The imf, in a report
published in September 2021,
found that fossil fuels are still
receiving subsidies of $5.9trn,
or $11m a minute. So the same
governments signing pledges
to reduce carbondioxide
emissions in the framework of
the Paris agreement, as
witnessed at the cop26sum
mit in Glasgow, are, in the
same breath, actively promot
ing the use of carbon to sup
port the unsustainable growth
of our economies.
Calling out inconsistencies
in the investment world
should not be limited to the
private sector. Maybe the first
really disruptive publicpriv
ate partnership could be the
promotion of transparency
across the whole system.
andre hoffmann
Vicechairman
Roche
Basel, Switzerland
Apopular cultural export
It was interesting to read “Why
do people love ‘Peaky Blind
ers?’” (digital editions, Febru
ary 21st) and about the themed
bars that have sprung up in
British cities, such as Liverpool
and Manchester. In downtown
Toulouse there is a Peaky
Barbers hairdressing saloon,
complete with period decor
from the television series and
door handles that resemble
handguns. Such is the authen
ticity that I find myself unable
to resist popping my head
around the corner occasionally
and shouting, “Don’t mess
with the Peaky Blinders” (I
know, it’s a misquote). And one
day I overheard one of the
apple ladies at our traditional
Saint Aubin Market say of a
blueeyed customer Oh, il a les
mêmes yeux que Thomas Shelby!
(Oh, he has the same eyes as
Thomas Shelby).
Whatever chord Les Peakies
has struck in popular culture it
seems that it is not just a
British one.
nicola scicluna
Toulouse
Onehundredyearslater
ZacharyCarter’sbookonJohn
MaynardKeynesquotessome
correspondencefrom1922.
Keyneswrote,
“Therealstruggleoftoday...is
betweenthatviewoftheworld,
termedliberalismorradical
ism,forwhichtheprimary
objectofgovernmentandof
foreignpolicyispeace,
freedomoftradeand
intercourse,andeconomic
wealth,andthatotherview,
militarist,or,rather,dip
lomatic,whichthinksinterms
of power,prestige,nationalor
personalglory,andhereditary
or racialprejudice.”
A reviewofrecentevents
andthebehaviourofpowerful
peoplesuggeststhatwe
haven’tcomefarinthepast
century(“Wherewillhestop?”,
February26th).
derrindavis
RichmondHill,Australia
Nota waste
I wassurprisedtoseeyou
criticiseColorado’seffortsto
establisha universalpreschool
programme(“Wastinga wind
fall”,February26th).Lessthan
a monthearlierTheEconomist
notedthat,despitethemixed
recordofsuchprogrammesin
termsofeducationalout
comes,“theeconomicbenefits
ofchildcareorprekpro
grammesvastlyoutweighthe
costs”(“Wonderingwhat’sbest
forthekids”,February5th).
Surelytheeffortstoestablish
theinfrastructureforsucha
programmeshouldnotbe
equatedwiththespending
whiteelephantsidentified
elsewhereinthearticle?
alkelly
Denver
Automaton for the people
You said that in 1920 Karel
Capek coined the word “robot”
in his play “R.U.R.”, or
Rossum’s Universal Robots
(“Rise of the robots”, February
26th). Actually, Capek simply
dropped the final “a” from the
Czech word robota, which
means “forced labour”
imposed on ordinary citizens,
much like the obligations of
peasants throughout the
feudal system.
Capek’s word gained much
publicity and entered into
common usage, but its etymo
logical history gives it a more
complex and rich meaning;
that of a machine bound to do
the will of its creator, just as
modern robots do, or are sup
posed to do, and which the
forced workers actually did.
henry ploegstra
Holland, Michigan
I read with a chuckle your
assertion that checkout staff
who have been booted out of
their jobs by machines may
find deeper “reward” in help
ing customers pick items from
shelves instead of sitting on
their proverbial all day. May I
suggest that whatever your
writers believe is to be found
after eight hours of being
ordered around a shop by
oftendisgruntled customers,
it is rarely a sense of reward.
daniel sherwoodclarke
Edinburgh
The camera always lies
Bartleby’s meaningful take on
body language in the post
pandemic workplace (February
5th) overlooked an emerging
trend about video meetings:
switching off one’s camera.
Being the only person on a
video call with a camera on is
gruelling. The body language
employed to look nonchalant
tells us more about that person
than anything the behavioural
scientists can.
One usually stares at blank
circles in place of people, their
initials appended in bold. A
few proudly display a photoge
nic picture of themselves
taken years before, airbrushed
to look like what they think
they still look like. Photos of
others seem to have been lifted
from the police archives.
zubin aibara
Bülach, Switzerland
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